Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #14825 - 9 Things That Can Bring Weariness - Galatians 6:9
Transcript
- 0:03Welcome to the study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
- 0:07Taylor, recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co.
- 0:11To learn more about the many resources available through
- 0:14Abounding Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services,
- 0:18visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free
- 0:23Calvary Church app. Now.
- 0:25Here's Pastor Ed to take us into our study.
- 0:29Amen, Amen. Open your Bibles Galatians
- 0:31chapter 6 Today we're only going to look at verse 9, although you
- 0:36if you're a note taker, be ready for different verses as we'll
- 0:40look at different verses throughout to build this topic
- 0:43in Galatians Chapter 9, in a Bible study that I've entitled 9
- 0:48things that can bring weariness. 9 things that can bring
- 0:53weariness because we are taught here in Galatians chapter 6 we
- 0:59looked at briefly in our study last time but we pause and stop
- 1:03here. Verse 9 just jumps off the page
- 1:06where Paul says and let us not grow weary while doing good for
- 1:13in due season, just like we read in Psalm one, in due season we
- 1:18shall reap if we don't lose heart.
- 1:23Now the enemy of our souls, when he shoots his flaming arrows at
- 1:27us, he is aiming at the bull's eye of a target.
- 1:31I think a singular bull's eye using all these different
- 1:35angles, all these different, all these different weapons against
- 1:39us. I believe he is shooting his
- 1:41arrows at us to hit the bull's eye of this target and the
- 1:45bull's eye. Is this you ready?
- 1:47The enemy wants you and me to lose heart.
- 1:52He wants us to lose heart. The idea of that word means to
- 1:56become deeply weary. It means to be exhausted, to
- 2:01faint, ultimately to quit and walk away from what God has
- 2:07called us to do. Deuteronomy chapter 20 verse 3
- 2:10says, And he shall say to them, Hear, O Israel, today you are on
- 2:16the verge of battle with your enemies.
- 2:19Do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid, and do not
- 2:24tremble or be terrified because of them.
- 2:28For the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you
- 2:31against your enemies, to save you.
- 2:34This has been a an attack of the enemy from the very beginning to
- 2:39get you to get me to lose heart in the battle.
- 2:43Jesus would put it this way in Luke chapter 18 verse one.
- 2:46Then he spoke a parable to them that men always ought to pray
- 2:50and what not lose heart. And we're all familiar with
- 2:55trials, losing heart and going through difficult things.
- 3:00They go together. We all familiar with trials.
- 3:02We have them big trials, small trials, short trials, long
- 3:05trials. That's to be expected.
- 3:07And the fact that we see many people lose heart because of
- 3:10difficult times doesn't surprise us.
- 3:13We know by now that being born again doesn't stop the pain.
- 3:18Being born again doesn't make us immune to the hardships of life.
- 3:22We've learned by now that being born again makes regular trials
- 3:26sometimes even harder because of the spiritual warfare that
- 3:30surrounds them. We know that trials cause us to
- 3:33lose heart. There are those times in life
- 3:36like we learn in Hebrews chapter 10 verse 36.
- 3:40For you have need of of endurance.
- 3:44We spent a lot of time on that word in that section of Hebrews.
- 3:48There are times in life where you just need to endure that
- 3:53season. The word endurance sometimes is
- 3:55translated perseverance. It's the Greek word that you
- 3:58have learned. I'm sure if you haven't, you can
- 4:01circle it. When you get to Hebrews 10,
- 4:02circle it and right next to it hoopoe Monet.
- 4:05That's the Greek word hoopo Monet Hu, P0M, 0NE.
- 4:11There are definitely times where you just got to bear up under
- 4:13the weight of the pressure or the circumstance or the
- 4:17difficulty. Hoopa Monet almost always refers
- 4:19to situations, not people. So it's not like you're you're
- 4:23dealing with Hoopa Monet with other people.
- 4:26That's a different type of endurance.
- 4:28But but the times where things come against you and you have
- 4:32you have dealing with a battle, sometimes external, sometimes
- 4:35internal. Hoopaimone speaks of bearing up
- 4:39under having a deep patience and endurance toward things or
- 4:43circumstances. This endurance speaks of a
- 4:46constancy under suffering and it raises up faith and duty.
- 4:52It speaks of waiting on God, clinging to God, and taking a
- 4:57strong stand as we're learning Ephesians, standing fast against
- 5:02the onslaught of the difficulties that you're facing.
- 5:06Losing hard and growing weary with trials is no surprise that
- 5:11that's not new news to most everyone listening to me near
- 5:15and far. Weariness comes through trials.
- 5:20It does. But today we learn about another
- 5:23type of weariness and that is the weariness that comes from
- 5:28doing good. Now we don't think of it doesn't
- 5:31seem to match our thought is if we do good, then only goodwill
- 5:35come. But doing good, especially in
- 5:38the Kingdom of God, can bring its own weariness.
- 5:42And right at the beginning of verse 9, we are told that there
- 5:46is some control of this that we have.
- 5:51There's some control toward weariness that we have.
- 5:54When it says verse 9, let us not grow weary.
- 6:00So we learned that there's a weariness that grows over time
- 6:04if we don't pay attention to it. It's a weariness that grows over
- 6:07time if we don't pay attention to it in doing good.
- 6:12Now the context here. Paul's writing to believers who
- 6:15started out their walk so strong and so good, they were born
- 6:17again by the grace of God. Their family was changed, their
- 6:20marriage was changed, their life was changed, and they're
- 6:23enjoying the newness of life in Christ.
- 6:25Until the false teachers came and said, Oh no, that's not
- 6:28enough. Faith isn't enough.
- 6:30You have to follow the law. You've got to offer all these
- 6:32good works. And before you know it, they're
- 6:34all burdened down. And some of them actually
- 6:36believe that false teaching and ruin themselves, ruin their
- 6:39families, messed up their kids. Paul learned about it, wrote the
- 6:43letters, and he's telling them, look, you've been ripped off and
- 6:48you need to get back to grace. You need to reject these false
- 6:52teachers. You fought the good fight, but
- 6:55now you got to continue to press on, go back to doing good, which
- 7:01is what the summary of chapter 6 has been looking at others more
- 7:05highly than ourselves. Peter would put it this way in
- 7:08first Peter chapter 3 verse 17. For it is better if it is the
- 7:13will of God to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
- 7:18There is a weariness that comes from trials and difficulties,
- 7:22and there is also a weariness from doing the right thing and
- 7:26doing good. There is a tiredness that comes
- 7:29from doing what is good, right, and wholesome, and it happens
- 7:34over time. This weariness that grows over
- 7:38time only leads to one place. And you say, well, pastor, what
- 7:43is that place? It's at the end of verse 9.
- 7:47You'll lose heart if you don't pay attention to this part of
- 7:50your life. You and I will lose heart.
- 7:54We have some control not allowing good things to make us
- 7:57weary. Let us not.
- 7:59Paul would put it this way to another in another letter to
- 8:03another church, Second Corinthians chapter 4, verse
- 8:05one. Therefore, since we have this
- 8:07ministry, we have received mercy and we do not lose heart.
- 8:15That's the place you want to be. You want to be on that.
- 8:17Hey, I know what ministry I could make call to.
- 8:19I know what I'm involved in. I know what family I'm in.
- 8:22I know where I work because everything in life is ministry.
- 8:25I know where I'm at. And I'm telling you, God has
- 8:27given me the mercy that I need. He's given me the grace.
- 8:30I and I do not lose heart. I might be tired, but I'm not
- 8:34losing heart. And in context, Paul is
- 8:36encouraging the believers, perhaps even encouraging
- 8:39himself, that there is a weariness that comes in
- 8:44faithfulness to the Lord. There's a weariness that comes
- 8:47in serving. There's a weariness and comes
- 8:49when you are doing the right thing in your own personal walk.
- 8:53I think of the room is filled with men and women right now
- 8:56that are making wise choices at great personal cost because it
- 9:00would be easier to do this, but the Lord wants you to do that.
- 9:03And so like, OK, I'm not going to take the easy route.
- 9:05I'm going to do what God has called me to do.
- 9:07I read this scripture or this wisdom from the Bible.
- 9:09I'm going to raise my family this way.
- 9:12I'm going to honor my wife this way.
- 9:14I'm going to respect my husband this way.
- 9:17I'm going to live as a pure single this way.
- 9:19I can think of all this that we could go on and on of the
- 9:21powerful spiritual decisions you're being, you're making
- 9:24right now at much personal cost. And the Bible says don't go
- 9:29weary, don't give up, don't lose heart.
- 9:34The enemy loves to tempt us to lose heart.
- 9:38He loves to get us to want to give up and throw in the towel.
- 9:43And it doesn't happen overnight. Supporting other believers,
- 9:47helping restore the broken, helping others with their
- 9:50burdens, seeing our own lives in order.
- 9:53They're all good. But they also can make us very
- 9:57weary. There's a weariness that comes
- 10:00through trials and there's a weariness that comes through
- 10:04doing good. I want to share with you 9
- 10:07things today, 9 good things or things in our lives where we're
- 10:11wanting to follow the Lord that I want you to watch out for.
- 10:14There are far more than 9. And you may have at the end of
- 10:18the list, you may have something to add to the list.
- 10:21If you have something to add to the list, I want you to e-mail
- 10:24me that. I would love to hear your
- 10:25perspective and I'll add I'll keep a list of it and maybe if I
- 10:29develop this message to travel with and I do A2 parter or
- 10:32something, maybe I'll add what you have to offer.
- 10:35But don't write me a book about it.
- 10:39I, I don't have time to read it, but just give me the points like
- 10:42I give them to you and then give me a brief description and maybe
- 10:44a scripture that the God that the Lord has given you.
- 10:47So I would love to hear your feedback, if you have it, on
- 10:50something good that God has brought into your life that has
- 10:52caused you to be weary or even think about giving up along the
- 10:56way. It's been a temptation from the
- 10:57enemy, but you're persevering and you're pressing on.
- 11:00So I'm going to share nine of them with you today.
- 11:03But before I do, I think it's important to pause and speak to
- 11:07the weariness that comes because you are at a place where you
- 11:12just don't want to serve anymore.
- 11:14You just don't want to serve anymore.
- 11:16It happens a lot. You don't want to do good
- 11:18anymore. And that, that's just where you
- 11:20are. It's something that I hear often
- 11:23with words like, and sometimes the team here can get that.
- 11:26The staff and the leaders can get that where I'll hear it.
- 11:28There's a, a hum that goes on and it's usually voiced this
- 11:32way. It's so hard, Ed.
- 11:34It's so hard. You don't understand how hard it
- 11:37is. It's so hard.
- 11:40Can I just affirm you in that, that if you do ministry right,
- 11:45it's going to be hard. It is hard.
- 11:48I I agree with you, It's hard, but I've also developed a phrase
- 11:51that it's important you understand this.
- 11:53You ready? Are you guys ready?
- 11:55I want you to. This might even be something you
- 11:57tattoo right here so you can read it like you want.
- 12:00Just you can do it temporary if you want, but you just get an
- 12:03idiot for the season, right? It's hard, but it's not that
- 12:07hard. It's hard, but it like sometimes
- 12:10it sounds like, well, you know, it's so hard.
- 12:12Like you're out there building the railroad or something, like
- 12:14you got that big steel thing on your bag or nobody's helping.
- 12:18It's hard, but you're not building the railroad here.
- 12:21You know, you're not up on a skyscraper with no net, you
- 12:24know, doing rivets and a high rise.
- 12:27And that's not your job. And then OK, you, you're an
- 12:30exception to that. But like you're afraid you're
- 12:32going to fall off 30 stories like in the back in the day.
- 12:35Like it's, it's hard, but stop making your identity how hard it
- 12:39is in ministry. That's not your identity.
- 12:42You're, you have been enlisted in the calling of God upon your
- 12:45life. You have been enlisted to serve
- 12:48him. It's hard, but it's not that
- 12:49hard. So get back to the place where,
- 12:52hey, you're being tempted right now through the weariness,
- 12:55you're being tempted through the difficulty.
- 12:57You're being tempted because a hard person or a hard situation
- 13:00and it's hard, but it's not that hard.
- 13:02The enemy wants you to lose heart and I'm asking you to get
- 13:05back to the Lord, get your eyes back on the Lord looking unto
- 13:09Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith.
- 13:11So it's hard. I agree.
- 13:13I mean, I, I think of those of you that might want to serve.
- 13:15We got to take it and we got to put it in the context of our
- 13:19little church here. So, so just say you want to
- 13:21start serving in this church. You go on to online, start the
- 13:23application process and everything and you just there,
- 13:26it's so excited, so excited. You can't wait, you can't wait,
- 13:29you can't wait. Then you start serving.
- 13:30Oh, it's so hard. Go back to how you really wanted
- 13:35to do this. As a matter of fact, we could
- 13:38say you said you wanted to do this.
- 13:41You responded to the Holy Spirit.
- 13:43You feel took all the time to fill that out.
- 13:45You watched all the videos you you answered all the questions
- 13:50and now today you don't want to do it anymore.
- 13:53You have to ask yourself, why could it be that you have let
- 13:58yourself grow weary in well doing?
- 14:01You've forgotten that there's a harvest in due season?
- 14:06There's a harvest in due season. And this is not something that
- 14:10we do in our own strength, not something ministry didn't.
- 14:14God didn't design ministry to destroy you or to wreck you,
- 14:18although sometimes serving the Lord will destroy your flesh.
- 14:22Maybe it's better to say, this is so hard, pastor, so hard
- 14:25because my flesh. Yeah, I guess, you know, the
- 14:29spirit lust against the flesh, The lust flesh, the lust against
- 14:32the spirit. So you don't do what what you
- 14:34really wanted. Yeah.
- 14:35The flesh is a formidable foe, but God is showing you that he
- 14:39is your strength and he'll get you through this because you're
- 14:41advancing the Kingdom. OK.
- 14:43If you're taking notes, taking notes #1 number one, if we I
- 14:48want to apply this verse. It's easy to become weary when
- 14:51#1 you help restore a fallen brother or sister.
- 14:55That's a good thing. Chapter 6, verse one.
- 14:58Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are
- 15:01spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness,
- 15:05considering yourself, lest you also be tempted.
- 15:07This is good and it can also weary you.
- 15:10This can be super challenging to step into someone's life that
- 15:14has back slid or walked away or wandered away very mad at God
- 15:18right now, very upset. You know, when you step into
- 15:21their life, it can be very, very taxing and challenging.
- 15:25It's a good thing, but it can weary you as you help to repair
- 15:30what's been destroyed and walk with them.
- 15:32It takes time, it takes effort, it takes energy.
- 15:36This is something you need to watch out for #2 you can become
- 15:40weary when you help bear one another's burdens.
- 15:44Again, Galatians chapter 6, verse 2 bear one another's
- 15:47burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.
- 15:50Life can get so heavy and hard. We're already all carrying our
- 15:54own pack. We're already have our own
- 15:56lives. We already have our own issues.
- 15:58And certainly, if we look at it as a backpack, and we all have
- 16:01our own backpack of life's issues, some of our backpacks
- 16:04are filled with heavy trials. And so you're kind of walking
- 16:08around bent over because it's so heavy.
- 16:10And then with that, as you're carrying your own pack, you're
- 16:13stepping into someone else's life to help them with their
- 16:16heavy burden. Yeah, this can be very wearying,
- 16:21helping people. Life gets so heavy and hard, and
- 16:25those around us are carrying such heavy, hard burdens,
- 16:29emotional, physical, spiritual, the whole revelation of these
- 16:36mental health challenges. And you're the one that's
- 16:39helping them. Yeah, it could tire you out for
- 16:42sure. Helping someone get their mind
- 16:45back on the Lord, or minister to them, or help them or encourage
- 16:49them or think of them or pray for them.
- 16:51This is something you need to watch out for as you're doing
- 16:54good and helping others bear their burdens.
- 16:58It's a weariness that can come, that if you don't check it, it
- 17:01could lead to losing heart #3 this is an interesting one, and
- 17:05this is a good thing. You can, you and I can become
- 17:08weary when you carry your own load, which we learned in verse
- 17:125. For each one shall bear his own
- 17:15load. You'll notice right away, as I'm
- 17:17starting with these doing good, I'm using the context of the
- 17:21passage. This is where Paul wrote it.
- 17:23And these are the things he's just said that I'm want to bring
- 17:26you back just for the sake of. Whenever you're reading the
- 17:29Bible, you always want to hold that verse in context.
- 17:33So he's really talking about these things in particular.
- 17:37Hey you, I'm telling you in grace, go out and help people
- 17:39that are broken. It's tiring, I know.
- 17:44And help people with heavy loads.
- 17:45It's tiring, I know. And by the way, while you're
- 17:48doing that, take care of your own thing.
- 17:50It's tiring, I know, and it can weary you if you're not careful.
- 17:55Our own lives come with their own challenges, their own
- 17:58twists, their own turns, their own ups and downs, challenges,
- 18:01surprises. Living the Christian life and
- 18:04facing our own lots in life can also weary us.
- 18:07But it's good. It's good that you take care of
- 18:10your own house. It's good that you lead your
- 18:13family. It's good that you are turning
- 18:15your whole life and oriented toward the things of God, living
- 18:19in grace. It's good, but be careful.
- 18:22Let us not grow weary when you're carrying your own load.
- 18:25Let us not grow weary when you're helping restore a
- 18:28brother. Let us not grow weary when
- 18:30you're bearing one another's burdens #4 this is an
- 18:34interesting one. Also comes from the context.
- 18:37You can become weary when you're waiting on God, waiting,
- 18:44waiting. You go, Ed.
- 18:45Where do you get that? Well, right here in verse 7.
- 18:49Do not be deceived. God is not mocked for whatever a
- 18:53man sows that he will also reap. So I want you to think of it
- 18:57this way. Sowing a seed doesn't have an
- 19:01immediate harvest, it takes time.
- 19:04So the time between sowing and reaping in between, you can call
- 19:10that waiting, waiting, doing good.
- 19:14You, you did something good, but you don't see the immediate
- 19:16benefits of it. Or you're waiting like the Bible
- 19:19says, some people plant, some people water, but you're waiting
- 19:22for God to give the increase. I, I think of the people you're
- 19:25praying for right now that might get saved.
- 19:27And you've been praying for how many years now?
- 19:29You don't have to say it, but how many years have you been
- 19:31praying, waiting, not just on the bad things, not just on the
- 19:36trials. You might be waiting for a trial
- 19:38to end. OK, that's a good thing.
- 19:40Waiting, not taking things into your own hands.
- 19:43You know, if you really want to grasp this in its totality, when
- 19:47when I talked through the book of First Samuel and Second
- 19:50Samuel, especially the second-half of First Samuel and
- 19:53all of Second Samuel, we're looking at the life of David
- 19:56going into King, David going into Solomon in Kings.
- 20:00Like, like when you read those books, you'll see David waiting
- 20:04on the Lord and encouraging and receiving the benefits, and then
- 20:10you'll see him take things into his own hands and suffering the
- 20:13consequences. Waiting on the Lord is a good
- 20:16thing, but it's a good thing. But it's a good thing.
- 20:23But it could weary you. I think of how many believers
- 20:30over the years have just given up waiting on the Lord and they
- 20:37just lost heart, concluding that God is not faithful.
- 20:41But we see it's due season. It's due season.
- 20:45That's the key here. We don't control the season and
- 20:50as much as we control the snow or the wind, it's God.
- 20:56It's due season. While you're waiting on the
- 21:00Lord, you can get tired. This is such a lie from the
- 21:03enemy. It's just a big lie.
- 21:04By the way, this is a big one. I want you to think of these in
- 21:07terms of how the enemy tempts you through lies, because losing
- 21:11heart while you're waiting is the exact opposite of what God
- 21:16says waiting does in a person's life.
- 21:18It's the exact opposite. Now I know you have your
- 21:21feelings and I know you have your life experience and I know
- 21:25that you are living with circumstances, but we have to
- 21:29cling to God's word no matter what we're feeling.
- 21:32This is the exact opposite of what God says happens for the
- 21:37man and the woman that waits on God.
- 21:39Isaiah chapter 40, verse 31. It says those who wait on the
- 21:44Lord shall quit, walk away and never come back.
- 21:49No, you guys know your Bibles. That's not what it says.
- 21:52Here's the promise. Those who wait on the Lord shall
- 21:56renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings
- 22:00like eagles. They shall run and not be weary,
- 22:05and they shall walk and not faint.
- 22:08That's the promise. The promise is then replaced
- 22:13with temptation, and then we come back to the new covenant.
- 22:16Let us not grow weary. Let us not grow weary.
- 22:20Waiting on God is the exact opposite of weary #5 now #5
- 22:24another thing that's so important.
- 22:27It's easy to become weary when you do good, but you're
- 22:30surrounded by so much bad. This is an obvious one, but it's
- 22:36a real one. It can become very tiring when
- 22:39you do good, but you're surrounded by so many that do
- 22:43bad, especially if you have a high value for justice and
- 22:47equity and righteousness. And as believers, that's always
- 22:50growing in our lives, valuing justice and equity and and
- 22:54looking out for those that can't look out for themselves.
- 22:56And you're doing good, but so many people seem to be do
- 22:58getting away with doing bad. And it can weary you.
- 23:03It can weary you if that's all you pay attention to, if all you
- 23:07pay attention to is everybody doing bad.
- 23:09Well, you know David went through this Psalm 22.
- 23:11In Psalm 22, verse 12, he says many bulls have surrounded me.
- 23:16Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.
- 23:19They gape at me with their mouths like a raging and roaring
- 23:22lion. He keeps writing about this over
- 23:25and over and over again in the Psalms.
- 23:30He basically says, God, don't you see I'm doing good?
- 23:32Why do you let them get away with it?
- 23:34Don't you see I'm doing good? Why do you let them get away
- 23:36with it? It's just those seasons in life
- 23:39where you're so caught up in what you're doing and so caught
- 23:42up what the world's doing, you forget God.
- 23:44You forget God. This is a big one.
- 23:48This is a big one. It's a classics example.
- 23:50This is a classic example. I think all of them are, but
- 23:53this one's in particular where you need to get your eyes back
- 23:56on the Lord like it says in Romans chapter 12, looking unto
- 24:02Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
- 24:06If you haven't already, later on today you can go to Romans
- 24:08chapter 12 and that word looking, you just circle it
- 24:11right next to it staring. You are obviously not seeing the
- 24:15Lord in your life circumstances and it's wrecking you.
- 24:20You're doing good, but so many are doing bad and it can
- 24:24discourage us. We just got to get our eyes back
- 24:27on the Lord. Here's number six.
- 24:29Number six, as we wind down, we could we become weary and even
- 24:33on the direction of losing heart.
- 24:35When you rely on your flesh instead of the Spirit, this is
- 24:40an accelerant. You know, if you try to do God's
- 24:43work your way, you are going to be tired and weary and you will
- 24:49lose heart. You're going to crash and burn.
- 24:51When we're in the flesh. Nothing good comes from our
- 24:54flesh. Nothing good.
- 24:56Back in Galatians chapter 5 verse 16, it says walk in the
- 24:59spirit. You won't fulfill the lust of
- 25:01the flesh because there's a battle between the spirit and
- 25:04the flesh. This reminds us that we can do
- 25:06the right things the wrong way. If you do the right things the
- 25:11wrong way, you're going to get weary.
- 25:15You're going to allow the circumstances of life just to
- 25:19bum you out. And then you look back, you go,
- 25:20I'm doing good. I'm doing.
- 25:21Yeah. But are we doing good the right
- 25:24way in the spirit and not in our own strength and our own flesh?
- 25:30Our strength is so limited. We're so weak.
- 25:34We compared, especially compared to God.
- 25:36What do we have compared to? God says, well, you know, I'll
- 25:39offer this and I'll get like I think of you restoring the
- 25:42broken person. So you have a coffee with them
- 25:45and you're going to sit down, you have a meeting there and
- 25:47they're sharing their heart with you and, and you're really not
- 25:50listening to them because you already got the answer for them
- 25:52because you already know you heard it.
- 25:53You go, I already know what happened.
- 25:54I already know what happened. And now you really don't know
- 25:56what happened because you're not listening to them because you're
- 25:58only thinking about how you're going to answer to them.
- 26:00And that is you're wanting to help them, but you're totally in
- 26:03the flesh. If you're going to meet with
- 26:05someone for coffee, listen to them, listen to them.
- 26:10That's the whole. And then listen to the Holy
- 26:12Spirit. Listen to them, listen to the
- 26:14Holy Spirit. It's that verse that God gave me
- 26:16early on in my life. Probably given it to you as
- 26:19well. Proverbs chapter 3, verses 5 and
- 26:21six. Trust in the Lord with all your
- 26:24heart. Lean not on your own
- 26:27understanding. Your own understanding is your
- 26:30flesh. It's your humanity.
- 26:33It's because you already did this, because somehow you're the
- 26:36expert. You're the expert in this
- 26:37problem. Everybody comes to you because
- 26:39you're the expert. Can I just say out loud for
- 26:42everyone here and anyone listening to me, wherever you
- 26:45might be, you're not an expert. You're not an expert because you
- 26:50really don't know what you're dealing with yet.
- 26:53The only expert spiritually is our God.
- 26:57He knows everything. He knows the UPS and the downs.
- 27:01Yeah, you might have a little bit more experience and you
- 27:03might have done some things more than others, I grant you that.
- 27:07But you're not an expert, and if you step into something as the
- 27:10expert, you may find yourself wearied and tired because you're
- 27:15not leaning on the Lord. And it'll just make us more
- 27:19helpful as we remember to rely upon the spirit and not the
- 27:22flesh #7 This is a big one. I mean, they're all kind of big
- 27:25ones. Maybe you got a big one you want
- 27:27to share with me. This is a big one.
- 27:28You ready #7? We can become weary when others
- 27:32disappoint us. Wow, listen to this Second
- 27:38Timothy chapter 4 verse 9. Paul writes to Timothy, Be
- 27:42diligent to come to me quickly, for Demas has forsaken me,
- 27:49having loved, having loved this present world, and has departed
- 27:53for Thessalonica. Disappointment is always
- 27:59connected to our expectations, and when we have expectations of
- 28:03someone and they let us down, it can make us really tired.
- 28:07We get weary of it. People don't keep their word or
- 28:10they don't, whatever, whatever it might be for Paul Dimas, look
- 28:14at how he writes it. He doesn't say Dimas left the
- 28:17Lord. He doesn't say Dimas walked away
- 28:20from the church. He doesn't say Dimas didn't show
- 28:23up for an appointment that he made.
- 28:25He says Dimas forsook me. That must have been hard to
- 28:30write. He loves the world more than he
- 28:35loves me. You know, he's mentioned Demas 3
- 28:39times. The first time, they're serving
- 28:41strong together. Second time kind of winding
- 28:43down. Third time, Demas is gone.
- 28:47He doesn't love me anymore. He'd rather love the world, that
- 28:52partnership. And really, toward the end of
- 28:55Paul's life, much like his Savior, most everyone left him
- 29:02as he sat alone. Our expectations can be so
- 29:06skewed in doing good. People will fail us.
- 29:09People will misunderstand our hearts.
- 29:12People will get upset with us. They'll write nasty things,
- 29:15they'll say bad things, they'll gossip, they'll slander.
- 29:18But we must remember our motive is to please the Lord and serve
- 29:23Him by doing good to those around us and readjust our
- 29:27expectations so that we just trust the Lord with these
- 29:30relationships. Because ultimately, Paul
- 29:32wouldn't be effective if he didn't get over Demas.
- 29:36He just needs to move on, pray for Demas, hope he comes back,
- 29:40But Paul has to keep going. Just like you don't lose heart
- 29:44because you've lost some friends or don't lose heart because
- 29:47somebody used to worship with doesn't love the Lord anymore.
- 29:51It does get weary. It's like, man, I just can't my
- 29:53friends. The longer I walk with the Lord,
- 29:55the less friends I seem to have. Part of that is very normal.
- 29:59And it could weary you. You just got to reorient
- 30:02yourself back to the Lord #8 almost done.
- 30:07This is a big one as well. Did I already say that they're
- 30:09all big ones? This wasn't.
- 30:10This one's too #8 you can grow weary when you live counter
- 30:15culturally. That's good to live against the
- 30:19culture. That's a good thing, but you can
- 30:21also get very tired. Remember what Jesus said in John
- 30:2317 verse 15. I do not pray that you should
- 30:26take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from
- 30:29the evil one. God's will for you is not to
- 30:32take you out of this world, but God's will for you is also that
- 30:36you don't live like the world. You're in this world, but you're
- 30:39not of this world. And so living not of this world
- 30:43can be very tiring. Going against the flow wearies
- 30:48us. That's why the world's
- 30:49temptations can be so attractive, because you know
- 30:52you're going to choose that route of obeying the Lord.
- 30:54But there's an easier way. Just go with the flow.
- 30:57Just jump on the bandwagon. Just go with the way the world's
- 31:00going, and then you won't have to fight that anymore.
- 31:03But then you have bigger problems, won't you?
- 31:05So going against the culture is very important for the believer,
- 31:08but it also is very tiring. And let me just add this, the
- 31:11church has its own little culture too.
- 31:13And the church, sometimes you have to go against the, the
- 31:16Christian culture because the Christians are always jumping on
- 31:20some bandwagon. I've been around long enough and
- 31:22I've seen things come and go throughout the history of the
- 31:24church that believers jump on and then find out wasn't that
- 31:27big a deal after all. They jump on and they, they jump
- 31:31on it. They, they think it's the next
- 31:33new thing, but it's actually, there is no new thing.
- 31:35The gospel is the new thing every day, all day.
- 31:39The gospel is going to get you through.
- 31:41And I've been around long enough where I've seen things come and
- 31:44go. I remember there was a time when
- 31:45every church was doing the same thing in town and I have people
- 31:48coming in and are we going to do that?
- 31:50And I go, no, we're not going to do that, people.
- 31:51Why aren't we going to do it? Every church in town?
- 31:53And I said that's why we're not going to do it.
- 31:56Every church in town is doing it.
- 31:57I mean, if you really want to do that, go to that church.
- 31:59But here we're going to point you to the Lord and teach you
- 32:02the Bible. That's what we're going to do
- 32:04that. That's how we're going to
- 32:05approach it, and we're going to approach whatever is going on
- 32:08and take the Word of God. And that's what you're going to
- 32:10get every day, all day. That's where you're going to get
- 32:12here. Even if there's something
- 32:13popular and there's always something popular, you know
- 32:16that, right? There's always something
- 32:18popular. Some of you are probably caught
- 32:20up in some popular things right now.
- 32:23I'm telling you, going against the culture is going to weary
- 32:25you. Going against Christian culture
- 32:27is going to weary you. But it's the right thing to do.
- 32:30God's not going to take you out of this world until it's time.
- 32:33But you can't be like the world. You can't live like the world.
- 32:37You can't. You're not.
- 32:38You're a believer. You live for a different
- 32:39Kingdom. You're a citizen of heaven.
- 32:43And so you get your marching orders first from God, not from
- 32:45the world, not from the culture. This flow in the church world,
- 32:51you have to go against it because just because something's
- 32:54popular doesn't mean it's biblical.
- 32:57Just because you're on YouTube and they got 5 million views
- 33:00doesn't mean it's good for you. It just means five other million
- 33:04other people got poisoned just like you're about to.
- 33:07I mean, if I put a glass of water in front of you and said
- 33:10poison, you will die. Nobody's drinking that here.
- 33:14Go ahead. I love you so good.
- 33:16I did a little video. If you do this, you will die.
- 33:19You got click. But there's so much poison that
- 33:23believers are just taking in like it's no big deal.
- 33:25It's no big deal. It's no big deal.
- 33:26It's no big deal. It's a big deal because it's
- 33:30diluting your effectiveness. You may not be dying physically,
- 33:33but spiritually you're dying one click at a time or one bad
- 33:37decision at a time. And this is a big deal when you
- 33:41are living counter culturally. It can weary you #9 #9 should I
- 33:48say it? I won't say it.
- 33:49No, it's a big deal. Here's a big one.
- 33:51Number nine, you can grow weary when you love your neighbor.
- 33:57Isn't this what God tells us? Love the Lord God with all your
- 33:59heart, soul, mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.
- 34:03The doing good of loving the lost, the doing good of loving
- 34:08the marginalized, those that get labeled, those that the world
- 34:13loves to isolate and make fun of those that sometimes even the
- 34:19church will create categories for them and then all of a
- 34:22sudden they they live under the category.
- 34:23So you don't have to love them. You don't need to love them
- 34:26because they're this, you know, the Bible says you're to love
- 34:30your neighbor. I think of the Good Samaritan.
- 34:33Jesus taught us about the Good Samaritan.
- 34:36The hero of the story was the unexpected and he had great
- 34:41personal cost help. That man that was wounded, he
- 34:45not only helped him in the moment, but he said here, I'll
- 34:47open up a tab and I want you to take care of him and I'll deal
- 34:50with him when I get back. And he not only helped him, but
- 34:54he helped him. He didn't even know what it was
- 34:55going to cost him. That's the kind of love that he
- 34:58showed, and as a church, if we don't learn how to love our
- 35:02neighbor through the weariness, we're going to lose heart.
- 35:04And then we'll just jump on the whatever new bandwagon it is to
- 35:08deal with what we don't need to love them that's come out of
- 35:12people's mouths. And Christian, it's come from
- 35:13pulpits before where there'll be pastors up here using labels and
- 35:17making fun of people teaching the church like they don't need
- 35:20to be loved. I'm not saying it's not
- 35:23challenging or wearying, but I'm telling you that if you don't
- 35:27learn to love your neighbor the right way, then you'll be
- 35:30completely off God's will for your life.
- 35:34And of course it's going to be challenging as you sit down.
- 35:37Of course it's going to be challenging.
- 35:38You reach out. Of course it's going to be
- 35:39challenging. You learn how to answer.
- 35:41Of course it is. It's going to weary you.
- 35:42You might even want to lose heart.
- 35:44But it's worth it because somebody reached out to you,
- 35:46didn't they? Somebody talked to you about the
- 35:49issues in your life. Somebody answered your
- 35:50questions. Somebody taught you the Bible.
- 35:53Yes, and there's a whole world waiting to be reached.
- 35:56The Holy Spirit wants to do that work.
- 35:58Let me give you a bonus one. We got time #10 #10 you and I
- 36:05doing good. We can grow weary when we forget
- 36:08the eternal. When we forget the eternal.
- 36:11Second Corinthians chapter 5, verse 14 For the love of Christ
- 36:15compels us because we judged us. If one died for all, then all
- 36:18died when we forget that. All that you're doing for the
- 36:21Lord is not in vain. You get weary.
- 36:26You just like this isn't worth it.
- 36:27This isn't worth it. I don't see any fruit.
- 36:30I don't see any fruit. You might be in the middle of
- 36:32sowing and reaping, right? Well, you're not going to see
- 36:36any fruit during the time you're waiting for the harvest.
- 36:39That doesn't mean you're not being effective.
- 36:41It doesn't mean you're not being faithful.
- 36:43It just means you're being attacked.
- 36:45It means you're doing good and you're becoming weary, and now
- 36:48you're getting more tired and more tired.
- 36:50And if you're not careful, you forget there's a due season.
- 36:53And some of the due seasons in our lives will be eternity.
- 36:56Some things that we're involved in right now, we won't even know
- 36:59how God used them until we're in His presence.
- 37:02It's worth it. It's worth it then, and it's
- 37:05also worth it now when we use our money and our time and our
- 37:09energy and our talents and our gifts and our bodies and our
- 37:12minds and our spirits, investing them in the things of the
- 37:16Kingdom of God, contributing to the work of the Lord.
- 37:22It's always worth it. Always.
- 37:26And if you forget the eternal while you're doing good, you'll
- 37:29get weary in light of the reality of eternity.
- 37:32It's God's desire for his church to be busy about the Father's
- 37:36business. That's the place.
- 37:39Doing good is being busy about the Father's business.
- 37:43So much of what we do doesn't seem, it doesn't seem to be all
- 37:50that important, but we're told, I think it was in Zechariah.
- 37:55We're asked the question for who has despised the days of small
- 37:59things? I think we all have, because
- 38:03sometimes we think things are not so significant.
- 38:06But in the Kingdom of God, small or large, everything matters.
- 38:12Everything matters. Don't forget there's an eternal
- 38:16reward, not just a temporary one.
- 38:20Amen, ma'am. Lord, thank you for your word
- 38:22today. And the reality of this, this
- 38:25sense of how easy it is to let ourselves grow weary and doing
- 38:30good. And there is that responsibility
- 38:32that we that we take for letting ourselves grow weary.
- 38:37So our hearts are to be reoriented with you today Lord,
- 38:41to be captured by your grace and your goodness, and truly that
- 38:48you would pour out your Holy Spirit on your church today in
- 38:51Jesus name, Amen. We pray that you've been
- 38:55encouraged by this Bible study delivered live from the
- 38:57sanctuary of Calvary Church for prayer.
- 39:00Call us at 87730 Grace that's 877-304-7223.
- 39:09To listen to this message in its integrity or to join us for our
- 39:12live stream services, visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church
- 39:18or download our free Calvary Church app.
- 39:21Be blessed as you worship Jesus this week.